And Another Fell Down
by NeonShoeStrings
Summary: To him, she was just the shy, mousy girl in the back of his history class. To her, he was just the kid who could never sit still. They were strangers, yet one of them took a bullet for the other anyhow. School shooting AU. RossxLaura Two-shot (possibly three)
1. Chapter 1

**And Another Fell Down**

_All the other kids with_

_the pumped up kicks,_

_you better run -better run_

_Outrun my gun_

X

She was huddled in the bathroom, knees cradled to her chest, squished between a stall and the cold wall next to her. Tears spilled over her beautiful pale face

The air was thick with tension and fear. It blanketed around her, enveloped her, encompasses her entire being.

She was scared. She was scared for her life. She was scared for everyone's life. There was a gunman in her school.

Gunman.

School.

Her school.

The sound of gunshot echoing through the school building -ripping through the air along with screams of panic and terror- rang in her ears on an endless loop. It seemed so real, as if it had happened again.

She wanted to cry.

She wanted to sob uncontrollably.

She wanted to let her screams and cries ring through the air.

Her chest tightened up in anxiety. Her stomach churned uncomfortably inside of her, her lunch threatening to make a return. Her breathing was restricted. She was hugging her knees so tightly to her chest her lungs were being constricted.

She knew that it was stupid. Hiding in a bathroom, alone. That would be the first place someone would look, but she was so scared; she was paralyzed with fear. Her feet refused to go anywhere. Her brain was a mess. It's like it had shut down in a moment of panic.

She had just asked to go to the bathroom because she'd had a full drink at lunch and her bladder was so desperate for release she would've peed her pants had she not gone to the bathroom.

It wasn't until she'd turned on the faucet to wash her hands that her ears picked up on the horrific noise.

Gunshot, a scream of pain, and then nothing.

Deadly silence.

It was as if the whole world had gone silent.

What was Laura to do? She cupped a hand over her mouth, her heart stung with fear and grief. Her shoulders became heavy. Her mind was racing so fast she couldn't keep up with it. The work was becoming nothing but static.

There were a lot of things a person never wanted to hear in their lives. Gunshot -the immediate cause of someone's untimely death- was one of those things for sure.

She dropped to her knees, her breathing was shallow and mechanical. She felt like she'd been the one who had been shot.

She was faced with two options: go into the hallway and try to make her way back to the classroom, with the risk of being the next victim, or stay there and hide in the bathroom, with the risk of being caught at such an obvious hiding spot.

The choice was made and Laura crawled to the corner. Her eyes were red-rimmed. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her forehead on her knees.

Presently, Laura had to bit her lip to keep from crying out loud. Strands of hair were getting stuck to her sticky, wet cheeks. Snot was running down her nose, but she couldn't even sniffle; she couldn't do anything without fear of being caught.

She felt like she couldn't even breathe.

So she continued to sit. Wedged between a stall and a wall, knees cradled to her chest, snot dripping out of her nose, fear running coldly through her veins.

x

Ross could care less about school, and with only two months left of his senior year, he was counting down the days until it was all over with.

He was halfway through the day, Mr. Frasier's History Class to be exact (man, did he hate that class), he was fighting off sleep -stuck in that stage where you're drifting in and out of consciousness, almost in pain because its like you're fighting a battle with your body.

That was when he heard it.

A single gun shot.

It was so unreal that he thought he'd only imagined it at first.

But, unfortunately, he hadn't.

That definitely woke him up.

A bloodcurdling scream followed soon afterward. It was like time stopped altogether with. The other teens froze. Mr. Fraser -midway to the chalkboard about ready to jot down some notes on ancient Egypt- dropped the piece of chalk and stared blankly at the door. It was so quiet in that building that they could literally hear the chalk hit the floor. But no one was focused on the chalk.

"OH MY GOD!" Someone in the back (Ross was pretty sure her name was Sarah) screamed after what felt like an eternity and a half.

And then a chain reaction followed after that. Everyone began screaming and crying, mulling over the fact that someone just died and the possibility that it could be one of their friends, their boyfriend, their girlfriend, their sibling.

But it didn't matter who died, because two thing were certain.

1) someone had died

2) someone in the school had a gun

"Everyone just calm down," Mr. Frasier said. "Just... just calm down."

And surprisingly, the room was dead silent again.

Ross couldn't help but notice how hard Mr. Frasier was trying to keep up the act, and how badly he was failing at it. The man wasn't fooling anyone, he was scared shitless and he had no idea what to do.

"Ross, lock the door," the teacher demanded. Ross obliged, locking the door and sitting back down at his seat.

"Wait!" A curly-haired brunette stood up from her seat with a look of grief and panic etched across her face.

"Ms. Rodriguez please sit down-"

"Where's Laura?!"

"Ms. Rodriguez-"

"Where is she?! Where is my best friend?! Where is she?!" Her voice broke. It went from a horrific scream to a hoarse whisper. Her eyes spilled with tears, she began to hiccup and sob.

"Raini," Mr. Frasier's demanding tone was now soft and gentle, understanding and compassionate, "please take your seat."

The girl sat down, but she kept mumbling the same words over and over again to herself. "Where is she? Where is Laura? Where is she? Where is Laura?"

Ross turned in his seat, observing all of the desks in the classroom. All of them were occupied, save for one; the one in the very back, third from the left. On top of the desk were two items; a notebook and a copy of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice'. On the cover of the notebook -one word, written in loopy, cursive handwriting: LAURA.

Ross's stomach plummeted deep down in the depths of himself.

His entire body deflated a little after that, like a sadness had washed over him.

He was worried about this girl.

And he had no idea why.

x

She wasn't sure what time it was. From the position she was in she couldn't see the clock and she sure as hell wasn't going to move to get a glimpse at it.

It felt like it had not been five minutes since she'd heard the gun shot, and at the same time, it felt like she'd been sitting there an entire lifetime.

Her tears had dried up, but the fear hadn't shied away. She stood (well sat) alert, on edge, senses heightened. Her heart was beating rapidly against her ribcage. Her stomach was contorted into all kinds of painful knots.

Her mind went back to that morning, in the kitchen on the phone with her mom who was currently in another state.

_"I can't wait to see you this weekend mom!" Her always cheery voice was particularly chirpy that morning. Her smile was big and bright. She missed her mom so much -she'd been gone for almost two months- and she was counting down the mere hours until she'd be able to hug the life out of the woman. _

_"I can't wait to see you either, sweetheart. Only three more days. Sixty-two-"_

_She cut her mother off, "Sixty-two hours. Thirty-nine minutes. Twenty-seven seconds." Laura couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Twenty-six, twenty-five, twenty-four..."_

_Her mother chuckled, and even though Laura couldn't see it, she just knew her mom was smiling and shaking her head at her daughter's silliness. Like she always did._

_"Laura, I have to go. Tell your father I love and miss him too and I can't wait to see both of my loves in just a few days."_

_She swallowed hard, not wanting to get off the phone with her mother just yet. Subconsciously, her hand gripped the phone tighter, almost desperate._

_"Laura?"_

_"I love you, mom." Her heart swelled. Her eyes stung._

_"I love you too, honey. _

_"Goodbye."_

_"Goodbye."_

_Two seconds and a resounding click rung in her ear. The line went dead. Soon it would begin beeping annoyingly, telling Laura that the conversation was over. Her mother had hung up. She sighed and clicked the 'end' button on her phone. _

_"Sixty-two hours. Thirty-seven minutes. Fifteen seconds," she whispers ghostly to herself._

_Fourteen..._

_Thirteen..._

_Twelve..._

_"Laura!" Her dad's strong voice came from downstairs. "It's time for school! Come on, I'll drive you!"_

_She nodded her head. It wouldn't be much longer. She had to remind herself of that. She hadn't noticed a tear slid down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly. _

_Then went downstairs. _

_To go to school._

Laura shook her head.

No, she wouldn't accept it.

That morning wouldn't be the last time she would hear her mother's voice. Or anyone's for that matter. She was coming out of this mess alive.

At least she prayed to God she would.

x

Ross couldn't help himself. He was just, by nature, a bundle of nerves. His foot bounced up and down in rapid succession. He kept crossing his legs over each other. Then uncrossing and crossing the others.

Crossing and uncrossing.

Crossing and uncrossing.

He ran his hands over his face, frustrated. He ran his fingers through the soft golden hair under his beanie. He knew there was a fucking gunman somewhere in the school, but dear god he had been sitting -just sitting- in that same damn uncomfortable plastic chair for almost two hours and he couldn't take much more of this.

The room was quiet. The lights had been turned off. A make-shift barricade had been constructed right in front of the door, which was just a few chairs and Mr. Frasier's desk. It was a shitty barricade, but they pretended to be none the wiser. They just need something, something to distract their fear and make then feel like there was even a little bit of safety.

He noticed, even in the dark, a girl in the back (her name escaped him at the moment) with her eyes shut, hands folded, head bowed, and her lips were moving -like she was speaking to someone who wasn't there.

He noticed a few other students praying as well.

Because in the toughest of time, even the most unreligious of people pray to anyone listening that they outlast the storm.

He raised his hand. It shook slightly, but he pretended he didn't notice that.

"Yes, Ross." Mr. Frasier said when the blond had finally caught his attention.

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

Saying it out loud, he had to admit it sounded completely stupid. He heard a few people laugh (in vain of coarse because this was hardly the time for laughter) and his cheeks burned in embarrassment from the look his teacher was giving him.

"No, Ross, you may not."

"Please, dammit!" Ross shouted at his teacher. Then, this time in a pleading whisper, he repeated, "please."

"Ross, you know as well as I do that I can't let you leave this room right now."

Ross groaned. It sounded pained and almost inhuman. He barely even recognized himself right now. He was going crazy. What was real? What was just his mind playing tricks on him? He felt like he was tripping out. Was he on drugs? His mom had started painting the house last week. Maybe he was high on paint fumes.

Mr. Frasier notices the frazzled looking teen. He felt sorry for him, and under any other circumstances, he'd would let him. The shaking hands, his bouncing foot, the sounds of displeasure emitting from the boy.

"Ross," he started, his tone inquisitive yet hesitant, "did you- did you take your pills this morning?"

Ross's hand stopped shaking. His foot ceased. His entire demeanor changed at the drop of a hat.

"I- I... um.."

He felt every single pair of eyes land on him in that moment. Everyone prying into his personal life.

Did he take his pills that morning?

No.

Why?

Because he fucking doesn't need them.

His ADHD doesn't define him.

He doesn't need pills to combat his so called "problems".

Because he thought the toilet would fancy them more than he would.

"No," he muttered and slumped back in his seat, "no I didn't."

His foot bounced.

His mind raced.

His fingers tapped against the hardwood of the desk.

'I'm going crazy,' he thought in the midst of stark silence. 'Dammit, I can't take this anymore!'

X

Laura Marano wasn't a coward. Though most people knew her as an introvert. She didn't talk to many people. She never made eye contact. She always sat at the back of her classes. She never raised her hand or spoke in class. She was a petite girl, small stature and short. Damn she was short. Her dad had always called her his 'little hobbit' when she was a kid and people were constantly making comments regarding her height.

But that girl was 5'4" of pure courage. She was braver than most. And she observant.

So when she spotted the lead pipe -laying forgotten by the janitor who had been fixing the sinks that morning- she quickly formulated a plan.

Laura, for the first time in a three hour period, moved away from her hiding spot and dashed for the pipe. Laura lunged froward, and she grabbed it, falling down on the floor when she did. Laura panted heavily from her adrenaline rush. Her lips quirked upward in a triumphant smile. She held the pipe close to her figure. Victory was hers.

Now she had a weapon. A weapon and a plan. Granted, it wasn't a gun, it was only good at close range whereas a gun was not, but it was better than going out into the hallway unarmed.

She timidly sat up, reluctant and anxious. She swallowed hard. Her small hands gripped the weapon with such inhuman force that her knuckles went white.

Laura licked her dry lips. She steadied herself. The first step she took -the first one she'd taken in the past few hours- was shaky and she wavered a little, almost falling over and collapsing.

But she stood firm, refusing to fall. She was not a scared little girl. She would not hide in the corner and cry any longer.

One step at a time, Laura made her way to the hallway. She surveyed her surroundings. Looking left. Looking right.

The coast was clear.

The took one step in what she hoped was the right direction. Her mind was a soupy mess at the moment, but she had to will herself to remember the way back to her classroom.

She was so close.

Just about to take another step.

Then she heard footsteps. Footsteps coming closer to her with every passing moment.

She stood there, dazed. She tightened her fingers around the lead pipe and held it up like a baseball player would hold a bat.

She couldn't run and she couldn't hide.

She could only fight.

X

Ross had done it.

He'd done it alright.

Know he knew how zoo animals felt, being locked up in a cage ad not able to be let out.

But every now and then zoo animals escaped.

And escaped Ross had.

It came down to the point where she couldn't handle it anymore. He had to get out of there. He had to get out of that damn classroom.

This time he didn't ask to go to the bathroom.

He didn't ask at all.

He shot up out of seat. He pushed the desk and chairs out of his way; the went clattering to the side, and after unlocking it, he threw himself out the door relishing in the sweet taste of freedom.

But that feeling was short lived.

"Ross!" He felt a strong hand clamp down on his shoulder. "Ross, get back in here! Are you trying to kill us all?!"

Only he wasn't speaking to Ross anymore. He was speaking to a monster that had taken over Ross's mind and body.

Ross pushed his teacher away. He threw him back into his own desk.

Ross glared at his teacher. His teacher stared back at, unbelieving. He didn't recognize the kid standing in front of him.

"Ross, don't," he whispered hoarsely to the teen.

Ross didn't head his warning though. He bolted out the door and down the hallway. He kept running; running away, running as far as he could get.

His heavy footsteps reverberated back to his ears. The world rushed around him in a blur. Ross smashed into a locker, but it didn't phase him. He rebounded and ended up colliding with another locker.

He slid his back down the cool metal of the locker door. His head hit the locker and he shut his eyes tightly. He wanted to stop time. Even if only for a moment. He wanted a moment of peace to bring himself down to earth. For Ross was floating high into space and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to get back down.

He blinked.

The wall in front of him was moving and shifting right before his very eyes.

His head hurt. His veins pulsed beneath his skin.

He shut his eyes and counted to ten.

"One... Two.. Three... Four... Five... Six... Seven... Eight... Nine... Ten..."

He blinked.

The world was still whirling around him. A big blob of shapes and colors. For a moment it was one thing and then in a second it transformed into something else. Nothing held his attention for long. It all just kept moving and shifting. Nothing held his attention for long.

He quickly scrambled to his feet. He couldn't stay there for much longer for fear of being caught and dragged back to that damn classroom.

He began running again. He went right and then left, zooming down hallways just to get them off his track.

_One..._

_Two..._

_Three..._

_Four..._

_Five..._

Ross stopped short, his breath hitched. He bent over and rested his hands on his knees, panting loudly and painfully.

_Six..._

Ross looked up, not expecting to see a pair of brown eyes staring back at him.

_Seven..._

The brunette girl stood her ground in front of him, weapon raised to her side. She bit her lip, close to piercing the skin and drawing blood.

Ross observed her under a careful eye. She was short and wearing an oversized sweater, snug-fitting jeans, and slip on shoes. Her hair was a knotted mess, tendrils stuck to the sickly pale skin on her forehead. Her eyes were huge, illuminating her fear. Her face was beautiful.

Ross had to ask himself one question: was this how he was going to die, at the hands of a beautiful young woman?

"Aren't you going to shoot me?" She said, her gaze was unbroken, her expression blank.

"I... I don't have a gun..." He answered truthfully. At least she had a weapon however pathetic it may have been. He was unarmed. He was screwed.

"Don't lie to me!" She screamed. Laura was quick on her feet. She ran toward the blond at a high-speed pace, yielding her weapon.

"Woah, woah, what the fu-"

Ross couldn't get his sentence out before she hit him in the head with her pipe. He fell back down the floor and Laura got on top of him, smashing him in head over and over again, screaming as she did so.

"Stop! Stop! STOP!"

Ross grabbed her weapon. He ripped it out of her hands. They both froze, looking at each other, breathing heavily.

He tossed the lead pipe to the side and lay back down on the cold floor, feeling tired.

Laura got off of him. She was shaking. She shut her eyes, hoping this was all just a dream.

"Shit," he ran his hand over his temple, feeling a nice bump forming, "you got me good."

She shook her head and began to cry. "No," she whispered. She looked down at her tiny hands and shook her head. How could she do that? How was she capable of doing that? She had just attacked someone.

"No!" She screamed in agony. "No!"

Laura dropped to her knees and wept. She kept whispering to herself. "No... No... No..."

_Eight..._

Behind them, they heard one sound that made their stomachs drop in fear.

Footsteps.

Laura remained optimistic. 'Its the police,' she thought. 'Or a teacher. We're gonna be okay. Someone's gonna save us. Someone's gonna save me.'

Laura got up off the floor and turned around. Her smile soon faded.

It wasn't the police.

And it wasn't a teacher.

The boy looked just as scared as Ross and Laura were. His eyes were wild with dilated pupils. His shaggy brown hair feel into his face, cloaking his bright blue eyes. He looked gazes with Laura.

She bit her lip and closed her eyes. She wanted this to be a dream so bad that it hurt.

When she opened her eyes again, she didn't see the scared boy. Instead, she saw a gun pointed at her face.

"Please don't shoot me," she pleaded, desperately. Tears trickled down her cheeks. "Please. Please don't shoot me."

The gunman held his weapon with a shaky grip. He shook his head. "I have to. You know it's me. I have to kill you. You know I'm the one."

"I won't say anything. I swear, I'll keep quiet. Please don't shoot. Please don't shoot me," she shut her eyes tightly. She was choking on a lump in her throat.

The boy flipped his hair out of his eyes. He ran his tongue over dry lips and cleared his throat.

_Nine..._

Ross say everything unfold right in front of him. He knew he needed to do something.

Ross pushed himself up to his feet. He went to run in front of the girl just as the boy went to pull the trigger.

_Bang!_

The second shot echoed thought the school to fall on the ears of fearful students.

The gun fell to the floor. The boy bolted out of there.

A lifeless body fell to the floor.

Someone screamed.

A clatter of footsteps came down the hallway.

_Ten..._

**To be continued...**


	2. One Bullet Is A Lifetime Supply

**And Another Fell Down**

**Chapter Two: One Bullet Is A Lifetime Supply**

_But if you close your eyes,_

_does is almost feel like _

_nothing's changed at all?_

_And if you close your eyes,_

_does it almost feel like_

_you've been here before?_

X

She hated hospitals.

She hated them so much that she hadn't stepped foot inside of one in over five years.

'Five years,' she mused to herself.

It had been five years since the night of her sister's car crash.

Laura shook her head. There was no time to think about that now. All those repressed memories of her sister and that fateful night had been locked away in box years ago, and she didn't feel like digging through all of that now.

She took a sip of her coffee. It was cold by now, but it didn't phase her any. She gulped in down absent-mindedly and felt her cell phone jiggle in her pocket.

She fished it out. It was a text from Raini. She noticed her Latina best friend had sent her two others as well. She must have been too deep in thought it to have felt it vibrate.

_From: Raini 3:35pm_

_Where are you? Did you get out of school safely? They found out who the gunman was. It was Isaac. He's being arrested. I haven't seen you since lunch. Are you alright?_

_From: Raini 4:03pm_

_Hey, I was suppose to give you a ride home, am I still doing that? Please text me back, Laura. I'm really worried about you._

_From: Raini 4:17pm_

_Please call me! It's important! I need to know that you are okay!_

Laura scrolled through the messages one more time. A nurse walked by and gave her a stern look. She wasn't suppose to have her cell phone on in a hospital.

Laura shot Raini a quick text, saying 'I'm okay' before turning her phone off and slumping back in her seat impatiently.

She tapped her foot rapidly against the floor. It reverberated throughout the empty hallway. Laura's big owl eyes blinked at the wall in front of her.

She hoped he was okay.

_"He's lost a lot of blood," the paramedic had said while wheeling him out of the school building and into the parking lot._

_Laura death gripped onto the gurney, her knuckles turning ghostly white. She clenches her teeth, desperation glimmering in her brown irises. "What does that mean?"_

_"It means," another paramedic yanked her from the stretcher and pushed his way in front of her, "that he's lost a lot of blood."_

_"Is that bad?"_

_"It's not good."_

_The first paramedic chuckled. He was a black man with a bald head and a big nose. He looked tough, but his eyes shone nothing but kindness and mercy. "Ken, stop scaring her," he reprimanded the white, blonde haired paramedic. "Miss, your boyfriend's gonna be fine. As long as we can stabilize him."_

_Laura's cheeks burnt up, heating her skin like a marshmallow over an open flame. "Oh, no no he's not my boyfriend."_

_"Really?" Paramedic number one ceased his movements long enough to shoot Laura a bemused look. He shook his head, then murmured to himself. "Damn white boy done took a bullet for this girl and he ain't even getting the goods from her."_

_Ken smirked at his fellow paramedic. "Who's scaring her now," he asked, referring to Laura's intense blush._

_The apples of cheeks contrasted greatly against their pale white backgrounds. "He's not my boyfriend. I- I don't even know his name."_

_And she didn't. She just now realized that as she looked at the blond laying unconscious on the gurney. He'd taken a bullet for her and he didn't even know who she was. How incredible was that? After she'd attack him -granted it was in fear of her own life- and beaten him with a lead pipe. He'd stepped in front of her, and just in time too. Had he been there a second later and the bullet would have tore through her. _

_She was a small girl. That shot would have killed her. She knew that. And this poor boy must have known that too. _

_She rested a hand on his forehead. It felt cold and lifeless. His eyes were closed, but she expected them to pop open any minute now and reveal those beautiful hazel eye of his. But they never did. They stayed closed underneath heavy-laden lids._

He was her hero -her savior- but he was a stranger.

And if he didn't make it out of this alive, Laura wouldn't forgive herself.

X

Ross felt so weak he could barely open his eyes. And when he finally did, he had to close them again because the light was too much to handle.

Ross's head was pounding. He let out a groan of agony. He gripped the sheets of his bed, fitfully thrashing underneath the covers.

Then it hit him. This bed wasn't his bed. His bed was softer than this. These sheets felt stiff and rubbed uncomfortably against him.

This room wasn't his room. It didn't smell anything like his room. His room smelled like food he'd left in there mixed with the stench of his brother's body spray.

This room smelled like plastic gloves and disinfectant.

It smelled like a hospital.

He sagged into the hospital bed, noticing all the lights and machines around him. He felt uncomfortable. He felt out of place in this room. This room screamed "death" when he was clearly very much alive.

He then felt all the wires and tubes connected to him, hooking him up to machines. He felt the giant bandage taped onto his left side from where the bullet had punctured through his skin. He felt the thin piece of material; the only thing left from leaving him completely naked.

He didn't like it in this room. He began breathing heavily, the air was dense and it hurt to breathe to quickly. His whole body ached. His head, his chest, his side especially. His breathing became shallow and he started choking on the intake of air.

His heart was beating rapidly. Something must have been going wrong because one of the machines he was hooked up to started beeping. But Ross didn't hear it. He couldn't hear it. For he was fighting for his life. His body was shutting down on him and he was struggling not to let it.

Ross's lids fluttered, as just before the world went dark, he saw the faintest glimpse of a whole team of doctors and nurses rush through the door, all coming to his aid.

X

If Laura wasn't a nervous wreck before, she certainly was one now. She was biting down on her thumb nail; a nervous habit she'd developed not long after birth. Her stomach was uneasy. Her heart was beating at lightning speed. Her mind was making up all these scenarios in her mind that could be happening right at that very moment in that hospital room.

She sat down and then stood back up again. She needed distraction so she'd gone to the snack machine to buy a candy bar, but her stomach was nothing but nerves, so she immediately gave it away to an older lady in the waiting room. She made small talk with one of the nurses, rambling on and on with all these questions, desperately trying to keep the conversation going, until the nurse had eventually -very politely- told Laura she had to get back to work.

Laura stared down at her worn out old pair of converse shoes. She tugged at the loose fabric of her sweater, tugging her bottom lip gently between her teeth very anxious for good news and wiping tears from her cheeks.

She didn't need a distraction. She needed good news. She needed to know he was okay.

It was almost six o clock by the time an older couple, probably in their fifties rushed into the hospital. The woman looked frazzled. Her husband looked like he was trying to be strong for her. Laura instantly recognized them as the boy's parents. He looked exactly like them; he had his mother's gentle features and his father's strong will.

Buckets of tears were steaming down the woman's face as she spoke to the nurse at the check-in desk. Her husband rubbed her back. Laure could see his lips mouth, probably sending her words of encouragement.

When the lady told them to have a seat, the woman was a completely wreck, and the man just stood there, cradling her in his arms, soothing her, whispering in her ear that things were gonna be okay.

They were such a sweet couple.

Laura's heart melted in that moment as one thought ran frantically through her mind: What if she had killed their son?

X

Anxiety was starting to play on her fragile mind. Scenarios popped up in her mind that scared her half to death. She envisioned him, laying lifelessly on that hospital table, the doctors wiping sweat from their foreheads trying to figure out which one was going to tell the family he was gone.

"Miss, please go home now," a doctor said to her.

She looked up, startled. Her big brown eyes were usually so bright and full of emotion, but not anymore. Now they were dull and her lids were heavy-laden with exhaustion.

"What? W-why? What's happened?" She spoke nervously.

The doctors let out a heavy breath, he was looking at her with that look she didn't want to be looked at with. That look of condolence. That look that simply said

"I'm sorry."

"No!" She screamed. "No!"

"Miss, please calm down," he tried to reason with her. "Please just... please calm down."

But Laura was still screaming. Tears streamed down her face, blurring her vision. She couldn't see anything, the world was unclear.

"No! No! No! No!" She flailed her arms around fitfully. "Noooo!"

Her screams pierced through the stagnant silence of the waiting room. She fell to the floor, on her knees. Gunshot rung through her tears. A collage of memories flashed in her mind's eye.

Hiding in the corner of the bathroom.

Those first steps out into the hallway.

Bashing that pipe into the boys head.

Seeing the gunman right in front of her.

Rain pouring down on the earth below it, cars passing by seemingly unharmed.

"No!" She screamed once again.

No, that memory didn't belong there. She'd forgotten about that a long time ago. The ghosts of the past would not haunt her now. Not in such a vulnerable moment.

The gun pointed at her face. The feeling you get right before you know you're about to die.

A road covered with water.

The trigger being pulled.

Windshield wipers trying to clear a means of vision for the driver of the car.

Someone pushing her out of the way just in time. Falling to the floor with a solid smack. Watching dumbfounded as his body fell to the floor along with hers.

A car swerving out into the wrong lane.

The sound of the gun hitting the floor and retreating footsteps. Then the sound of more footsteps as someone found them, a teacher- her history teacher. But he was too late.

A car colliding with another car.

"No!" She screamed with all the might she has in her body.

"Laura!"

"No!"

"Laura!"

"No!"

"Laura!"

Laura blinked. She was back in the waiting room, sitting in a chair and not on the floor. There was no doctor here to give her bad news. There were no nurses trying to control the spastic girl.

There was no gunman. There was no car crash. There was no dead body. No one had died.

Laura willed herself to calm down. Her hand flew up to her chest, she could feel her heart thump against her rib cage painfully. She closed her eyes. The darkness was the only thing that brought her peace anymore. Her breathing was shallow and mechanical. A few tears slid down her nose, her cheek, her neck. She didn't wipe them away though.

"Dov'è mia figlia? Dove diavolo è lei? Dove è Laura?"

Her eyes snapped open when her ears picked up on the voice of an angry Italian man, a voice she's far too familiar with.

"Laura?! Laura?!" Her father came bounding down the hallway with rapid force. He stopped when he saw his daughter. His eyes filled with tears, he looked relieved, but at the same time he looked anguished.

"Dad," she starts easily, but she didn't get to finish before she was brought into an embrace by her father. He cradled the girl into his chest, letting the word's roll of his tongue so quickly Laura couldn't keep up with what he was saying.

"Mi hai fatto così preoccupato. Pensavo che stessi male. Ho pensato che qualcosa di brutto era successo. Ho pensato di non rivederti mai più. Oh, mio angelo prezioso."

"Papá," she pulled away from him. "Please stop speaking Italian. You know I have no idea what you're saying."

He shook his head. "I was worried about you. I had no idea where you were. I thought Raini would bring you home, but then she showed up and said she had no idea what happened to you. She was worried sick about you, Laura! How could you do that to your best friend?"

Laura looked sheepishly down at her feet. Thinking back to the text messages she'd gotten from Raini. And she'd only response back with "I'm okay".

She looked back up at her dad. This time he looked angry.

"Come on, Laura. It's late. We're going home."

"No!" Laura yelled at him. She stepped back from her father, feeling guilty for yelling at him so harshly. She shook her head and sighed. "No, I can't leave. I have to know he's okay."

"No, Laura. It's been a long night. I'm going home and you're coming with me."

"Dad, please!" She beseeched him. She was so desperate. There was no way she could leave that hospital without knowing what was happening with him."

"No, Laura," her father said sternly. She was crestfallen. She knew there was no reasoning with her father.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him out of the hospital. She glanced back to the boys parents.

They looked so broken. All because of Laura.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry," Laura whispers into the crisp night air, her apology falling on deaf ears. Another tear falls, it lands with a _plunk_ on the ground below her.

Damiano Marano unlocks his car. It beeps in response to let him know it obeyed his request. He settled himself into the drivers seat, but Laura opted for the back seat.

Damiano only sighed, putting the keys into the ignition. He wasn't gonna fight with her. He got her in the car, that was good enough.

Laura pressed a button on her phone. The screen lit up as it turned back on. It buzzed between her fingers. An influx of messages greeted her.

Five missed calls.

Two from dad.

Two from Raini.

One from mom.

Three new messages.

_From: Raini 4:41 PM_

_Okay, but where are you? I'm gonna try and call you if you won't text me!_

_From: Raini 4:56 PM_

_Dammit Laura! Answer your phone! I'm worried about you! Please answer!_

_From: Raini 5:00 PM_

_Fine, I'm going over to your house if you won't answer my messages_.

Laura put her phone back in pocket. She didn't feel like answering any of her texts. She didn't even care. She was too tired to care about anything but that boy she'd left in the hospital.

Questions kept trickling in.

Was he okay?

Was he gonna die?

Did his parents know he'd pushed Laura out of the way?

Did they blame her for their son being in such a terminal position?

What was his name?

Did he know who she was?

Laura's head was hurting. A massive headache bubbled under the surface. More questions came to her mind though.

Who was the gunman?

Why did he bring a gun to school?

Who else had he shot?

Was that person dead now?

Laura shook her head. She closed her eyes.

Darkness was the only thing that brought her peace.

Finally, sleep invaded her system.

X

_"We'll be right back honey," a younger-looking version of her mom rubbed her back. She shared a languish look with her husband. He bent down to place a gentle kiss to the girl's cheek and patted her head._

_Laura looked up with big doe eyes. She batted her long black eyelashes, totally and blissful unaware of the situation at hand. She was the epitome of innocence. _

_"Okay mom. Okay dad."_

_They smiled lovingly at their daughter. Laura didn't notice her mom's eyes brimming with tears as they walked away._

_The twelve-year-old sighed heavily. She was left to her own devices. She shivered, goosebumps dotted her delicate skin. She looked about the hospital waiting room blinking her eyes innocently._

_Why were they here?_

_Why were mom and dad so upset?_

_These were the kinds of that swirled about her subconscious. _

_She spotted her parents talking to one of the doctors. They didn't look happy. _

_Her mother's face was grief-stricken. Her father held on to the tiny woman with a shaky grip._

_What was happening?_

_What was wrong with her parents?_

_Had that doctor hurt them?_

_Her parents rushed over to her. Her mother was sobbing. She held onto Laura for dear life, afraid the young girl would vanish; dissipate into thin air if she didn't anchor her down._

_She looked into the confused face of her daughter. Laura's eyebrows knitted together and her eyes shined with curiosity._

_"Laura, you're sister... she- she..."_

_"What, mom? Where is she? Where's Vanessa?"_

_Her mom's sobs caught in her throat. She just couldn't get the words out. "She's gone! Vanessa's passed."_

_Damiano wrapped an arm around his wife. He spoke to his daughter carefully. "Honey, she was in a car accident. She... didn't survive."_

_"Laura, honey," her mom grabs her by the arms, "please promise me you'll stay safe."_

_"I don't know if-"_

_"Please promise me, Laura!"_

_She nods her head._

_"I promise."_

Laura awoke with a start. She gasped loudly as her heart beat so fast she thought it was going to explode. She wiped away the sweat from her forehead, sweaty tendril of hair stuck to her face much like her tank top clung to her taut abdomen.

She fell back to her bed, her head landing on her soft pillow.

She breathed slowly, in and out, in and out.

_Beep beep beep_.

The incessant ringing of her alarm clock pierced through the stark silence. She glanced at the clock. 6:45 am. She shut the damn thing off.

It was Wednesday. On a normal Wednesday she would have gotten up to take a shower, but there was no school today. There was no school school tomorrow and there was no school Friday. Who knows when they'd go back to school.

She sighed and tossed her sticky, sweaty sheets to the side to get out of bed. Her toes curled into the plush carpet of her bedroom floor.

She padded herself down the stairs and into the kitchen where her father was making breakfast. When he saw his daughter he smiled, but she doesn't return one. He slid her a plate of breakfast; eggs and toast. She slid it back to him, slumping back in her chair at the table.

Damiano sighed. "Laura, you have to eat breakfast."

"I'm not hungry."

"Well, since you didn't eat breakfast last night I'm not letting you leave this table until you've eaten something," he informed her.

Laura grabbed a piece of toast and took a bite out of it. She laid it back down on the table. "There," she said defiantly, folding her arms over her chest.

"I know you're upset that you can't see your classmate, but-"

"He wasn't just my classmate!" She said sharply. "He saved my life. He took the bullet instead of me. If it weren't for him, I would be the one in the hospital right now. Hell, I'd probably be dead."

"Laura, you can't just go somewhere and not tell anyone where you are. How do you think it looks when I get a call from the school saying there was a shooting there today and all two kids where shot and then no one can get ahold of you. Raini tried calling you. I tried calling you. Your poor mom had to leave work early and get on the next flight out here. We had no idea what happened to you."

"So what I'm hearing is your not gonna let me go see him? Even though he saved my life and there's a chance he could be dead right now?" Laura huffed.

"Sorry, sweetheart. You're on probation right now."

"That's completely unfair!" She grumbled to her father.

"Well I think it is fair."

Laura angrily sat up from her chair. Her dad walked over to her, going in to embrace his daughter in a hug, but she pushed her way past him and up to her bedroom.

X

"What do you remember about the shooting, Ross?" A police officer had come into Ross's hospital room after he'd been stable for a few hours. Ross may have been stable, but he didn't feel it. He nervously ran his fingers over the stitches on his side. The place where they'd made an incision to remove the bullet. He felt weak. He couldn't keep anything down and they were still keeping a watchful eye on him.

All in all, the doctor said it would be another day before he'd be able to go back home.

"Look, I know you're tired, but we have answers that we need questions to. And you're the only person still alive that saw who the gunman was."

Ross groaned. "I don't know who it is, okay? I didn't get a good look at him! He just... He just shot me and then took off. I barely even got a glimpse." He swallowed thickly and painfully. Everything was painful to do anymore.

The police officer nodded his head. It was clear that Ross wasn't gonna give him any answers and hounding him right now wasn't what he needed. He'd just spent the night in a hospital. He'd just nearly died.

"Is there anyone else who was there? Who might have saw him?"

Ross searched through every file of his memory. Was there someone else? He could hardly remember much of that event. And what he does remember isn't much.

It was him, standing in a hallway. One minutes he was laying on the ground and the next minute he'd been shot.

Was there someone else?

"I don't think so-"

And then it all hit him; it all came rushing back to him like the ocean tide crashing onto the sand.

That girl. That brunette girl who had attacked him. He'd jumped in front of her. That's why he got shot. The gunman had originally pointed the gun at her, but he'd stepped in the way.

The only problem was he had no idea who that girl was. Telling the officer about her would be futile. There was no point in bringing her up. She was all but a distant memory now.

"No, there was no one else," Ross answered. "It was just me in that hallway. Me and whoever shot me."

"Damn," the officer cursed under his breath. "Thanks anyway, son. I hope you get better."

"Thank you, sir," Ross replied graciously.

The officer left the hospital room. And suddenly Ross was alone again.

X

It was mid-day Thursday before Ross was released from the hospital. The ride back home was quiet and uncomfortable. His hospital bracelet chaffed his wrist. The skin underneath it was raw ad red from irritation, but he didn't take it off. Somehow, he kind of liked wearing it.

"Ross," his mom spoke timidly from the passenger seat, "is there anything in particular you want to eat?"

Ross shook his head. He wasn't even hungry, but he knew his parents would make him eat. He'd gone twenty four hours without eating at all and having lost blood, and then afterward he hadn't been able to keep any food down.

He shoved his headphone in his ear and clicks his music on. He doesn't even care. Any song will do. Anything will do that blasts in his head and distracts him from reality.

When they finally get home, it feels like a dream to Ross. With everything that had happened in the past three days, he'd never been happier to be home.

His siblings greeted him with big smiles on their faces, relieved that their brother was alive.

He couldn't help but smile a bit too albeit the fact he was still highly traumatized by what had transpired.

He had to push all of that mind.

He was home.

He was safe.

He was alive.

**To be continued...**


	3. The Path To Heaven

And Another Fell Down

Chapter Three: The Path to Heaven...

_But I'm only human_

_And I bleed when I fall down _

_I'm only human _

_And I crash and I break down_

_Your words in my head_

_Knives in my heart_

_You build me up and then I fall apart_

_Cause I'm only human_

X

School resumed on Monday and just like that, all the chaos and terror from last week was pushed into the back of everyone's mind.

Except for Laura that was.

Laura felt like everywhere she went, every step she took, every single thing, it brought her back to that day. She couldn't get over it. She had flashbacks, nightmares, panic attacks. That one event consumed her entire life.

How could people just turn a blind eye as to what happened? Blood had been shed in these very halls and no one seemed to be bothered by it save for her.

She opened up her locker, ignoring her shaky hands and heart beating in her ears.

The only other thing that had been present in her subconscious was the blond boy. She hadn't seen him since the day at the hospital. She hadn't heard wether he was alive or not.

The thoughts of him being dead -because of her was a heavy load to bear and it only intensified her anxiety.

She felt lost. Lost in a world of people who were happy, who were carefree. But Laura couldn't shake the past (even if it had only been a week ago) the demons of past haunted her present and presented themselves as an obstacle for her future.

_"PTSD," the therapist said. He looked up from his thick-framed glasses to glance at the frantic brunette. Then he jotted notes down on his clipboard in a professional, of-the-utmost-imporance way, as he observed Laura closely, carefully, and all too intensely for her liking. _

_Was he writing notes about her?_

_Was he even writing notes at all, or had he just been trying to make himself look like he was accomplishing something? _

_Laura suspected the latter._

_"It stands for post-"_

_"Post traumatic stress disorder." She stared at him with the same unchanging expression she had had the entire time. Blank, unyielding, emotionless. She wasn't even sure she had any emotions left to feel. The fear was constant and ever-present in her system. Something in the back of her mind kept reminding her of what had happened. It wouldn't let her forget._

_It was a whisper in the wind._

_I feeling in her stomach._

_The hitch of her breath._

_The smell of hot metal and an innocent man's blood invading the air around her._

_It was the thump as his lifeless body fell to the ground. She had felt as though she had watched herself die, not having realized right away that he'd stepped in front of her. She thought it was one of those "out of body" experiences. Like her soul ha left her body and watched as the two would never become one again._

_See, something was always bringing we back to it. It was like being forced to watch the sale movie over and over again._

_"Is that what you think I have?" She practically barked at him, her tone was angry, but her face was a look of indifference. "A mental illness?"_

_"It's hard to tell. It hasn't been that long since it happened. Only a few days, however if this continues on for... let's say a month, then I'll have to recommend you to a specialist."_

_"I thought you were the specialist?" _

_He scribbled down more notes. She could here the sound of his pencil lead rubbing against the paper. Jesus, he was being so loud about it. _

_"I'm just a general therapist. I'm here to figure out what's wrong and direct you were you need to be. This doctor would be more experienced with people of your kind."_

_"People of my kind?!" Laura growled. Her hands clamped around the arms of the chair as she seethed with anger for this man in front of her. She wanted to slap that stupid clipboard right of his lap, dammit. "Is this some kind of a troupe? Am I being categorized now? This awful thing happens to me and I just get labeled and put into some group?!"_

_She could feel her blood boiling, but there was almost no way for her to stop it from happening. Her body was doing things before her brain could react._

_"Would he put me on pills?" She asked. She didn't even allow him time to respond to her previous questions. She had a feeling his answers would just further upset her._

_"If you continued behavior like this then yes, he probably would." He eyed her carefully, unsure of what she would do next. He was used to dealing with patients who had a tendency to get out of hand, but he was afraid more that she'd hurt herself and not him. "Although, maybe giving you medication wouldn't be the wisest choice."_

_Laura breathed in deeply, exhaling through her nose. She closed her eyes. Her lashes fluttered and her face grew grave and worried, but when she opened her eyes once more, she was fine. Everything was okay. She had composed herself. "I'm fine. I assure you I am."_

_"No, Laura. You're not. You're a mess," he said straightforward._

_She gasped. How dare he talk to her like that? She feigned anger, but on the inside she was slowly crumbling, breaking down. She knew something was wrong with her, but she tries keeping it to herself. Having someone else point out your flaws that you already know are there but try to cover up anyway, is not very much fun. _

_She bit the inside of her cheek. Her eyes swelled with tears. How could she break free of this when she felt like the walls were closing in around her?_

_"Laura, this could either be something very complex; a systematic error in your genetic code that finally reached its breaking point. Or it could be very simple; the human emotion of fear."_

_She looked up at him, pursing her lips into a thin line. _

_"Are you scared, Laura?"_

_She swallowed. She was so much more than scared. "Yes, I am."_

_"Your parents told me why they were so concerned. You have hemophilia is that correct?"_

_She nodded timidly. "Yes."_

_"So you think that if you had been the one who was shot, you would have bled to death, right?"_

_"I don't think," she said. "I know I would have."_

_Both parties were quiet. The therapist wrote down some more notes. Laura could still hear the scratch of pencil on paper, but suddenly she wasn't bothered by it as much. "Are you afraid you killed him?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Laura, that wasn't your fault!" He yelled at her, which surprised her tremendously. "You didn't ask him to push you out of the way! He did that on his own. He knew the consequences. He brought it upon himself. He knew what he was doing. He wanted to save you."_

_"He didn't know who I was!" She screamed, leaving her voice hoarse afterward. She coughed. "He didn't know me, and I didn't know him, but know he's dead because of me."_

_"You don't know that he's dead," the therapist offered. _

_She looked up at him to say something, to respond in anyway she could, but she found no words. No explanation. Every time she thought about him it made her sick. It made her heart hurt. _

_"Why would he do that? Why would he risk his life for me?" I'm not worth it, she mentally added. _

_"Maybe you should ask him that instead of me," he replied._

_"Maybe," she agreed._

Laura walked down the hallway. She was sick of thinking about yesterday's therapy session. Te first of many she assumed. It had been her parent's idea, not hers. After her mom had flown back home early, she noticed a change in her daughter. And it wasn't a good one.

There was a problem with Laura and the only solution she could think of was therapy.

Laura moved about the hallway. It was almost time for her fifth period class; history. She stepped down the hall casually. People all around her were walking and chatting with their friends. Had she not witness it herself, she wouldn't have believed their had a been a shooting their last week.

Why did the school even think it was a good idea to start school up again so soon? Maybe because it was the end of year and they just wanted to get it over with.

Laura stopped when she saw a group of students all huddled together. Her eyebrows rose. It looked like they were looking at something on the wall. When they moved, she took a look at it herself.

It was a framed photo of some freshman kid, Alex Sharp. Underneath the picture was a plague that said "_Alex Mitchell Sharp August 3rd, 1999 - April 15th, 2014. You live on in our memories as those who have also fallen."_

It was the boy who had been shot, not the one who had pushed in front of her, but the other one - the first one.

Laura didn't know him, but he was gone now and she knew someone was grieving his loss.

If the school had set up a plague for him, maybe they'd set up one for the other boy too if he had died. Laura looked with a heavy heart, but she found nothing. Maybe there was still hope for him.

She looked at Alex's plague one more time. She thought their choice of words was slightly odd. "Those who have fallen", what was that even suppose to mean?

"And another fell down," she muttered quietly to herself, "never to get back up."

The bell rang. Just like all the other kids, Laura scrambled to class.

Laura entered the classroom.

"How nice of you to join us, Ms. Marano," Mr. Frasier greeted from behind her, he took a sip from his coffee cup.

Laura surveyed the scene around her. All the chairs were occupied, save for two; her's and the one right in the middle. Her chest ached, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out who usually sat in that seat.

"Ms. Marano?" The teacher asked her cautiously.

She couldn't tear her eyes away from that chair. Who sat there? She could hear her heart beat rapidly in her ears.

"Ms. Marano." Laura spun around to face her teacher. He gave her a sympathetic smile. "Please take your seat."

She nodded, ducking her head in embarrassment from her entertained schoolmates. She heard them snicker at her spaciness. Her teacher hushed the class almost immediately and began his lesson.

Laura just propped her elbows on the desktop, resting her chin in her hands. She couldn't bother to pay attention. Her gaze kept glancing back to that empty seat.

"Laura!" She heard someone whisper harshly at her, breaking through the static of Laura's thoughts.

Laura glanced up, noticing Raini trying to get her attention and looking totally pissed off.

"What the hell?" Raini mouthed to her, scrunching her eyebrows in annoyance.

Laura bit her lip and checked to make sure her teacher's attention was still compromised. He was writing down blurbs around 17 century England at the moment.

She opened her notebook and grabbed her pen, writing her angry best friend a quick message.

'Can we talk later?'

Raini made a huff of annoyance, rolling her eyes and turning in her seat.

Laura sighed, slumping back in her seat. She had enough going on right now, she didn't her best friend mad at her too.

X

"Would you please explain to me why you stopped taking your pills, Ross?" Stormie Lynch asked with all the patience she could gather.

Her son just shrugged, not very happy about this sudden interrogation. His parents had kept him home for the day, not having agreed with the school that the kids were ready to go back yet. He hadn't complained about it, she'd cooked him food, let him rest on the couch, and checked on him every now and then. But Ross should have guessed his mom's action had an ulterior motive.

She sat him on the couch, handing him a bowl of soup -going for the gentle approach- and then sprang the question on him. And when he refused to supply her with an answer, she asked it again.

"Mom, I don't know, I just forgot to take them a few days in a row," he answered casually. Internally, he cringed, he hated lying to his mom.

"Don't lie to me, Ross!"

The blond looks up from his soup to see his mother -surprised by her harsh tone of voice- her eyes are watery and all Ross can feel is guilt. Deep seated guilt.

"I know you didn't just "forget" to take your pills. The bottle's almost empty. You've been taking them out of the bottle, so if you haven't been taking them what have you been doing?"

"I-"

She gasped, not even allowing him to offer her an explanation. "Have you been selling them?"

"No, mom," he sighed. How dumb did she think he was? Yeah, he didn't want to take his meds, but he wasn't gonna resort to being the school drug dealer, he didn't want to get kicked out of school either.

She stared at him, drying her eyes and giving him a stoic expression. "Okay then, what have you been doing with them?"

He ran his fingers through his soft blond hair. "I've been flushing them down the toilet."

"The toilet here?"

He shook his head. "The one at school."

"Th pills we pay money for you to have? You waste them by flushing then down the toilet?" She seethed at him. Ross had never seen his mom so mad, and honestly, he never wanted to again.

"What? Would you rather I have been selling them?" He murmured sarcastically to himself, but his mom still caught his words.

"This is not time for jokes, Ross!"

He looked down at his feet. "I just don't want to be on them anymore! I hate having to take them everyday!" He groaned.

She sighed and shook her head. "Well, it would be great if you didn't have to take them, but we saw last Tuesday what happens when you skip out on them, so obviously you have to take your medication"

He groaned again, falling onto the back of them couch, dramatically. When were people gonna stop giving him shit about that?

"Ross," his mom called gently, "without your pills, you are a danger to yourself and a danger to others. I almost lost you because of it."

He hated when people said stuff like that. It made him feel weak and pathetic. Even though he knew it was true.

"I didn't want to have it come to this, but," she paused, gauging her son's reaction, "I'm gonna have to watch you take your pills every morning before you can go to school."

"Are you kidding me!" He shouted. That was so elementary, so juvenile. His mom had to monitor him now? Just another reason he hated those damn pills.

"I'm sorry, Ross. But this is how it has to be," she said. "Until your father and I can trust you to take them on your own terms."

She got up off the couch, leaving her son to himself. He pushed his soup away and slumped into the couch.

"Fuck," he muttered to himself under his breath. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..."

X

Chemistry was Laura's last and most dreaded class of the day. She was usually a straight A student without even seemingly giving much effort, usually she could just make a half-hearted attempt and she still did better than the rest of her peers, but chemistry was the one area she struggled in.

And it really frustrated her, because she really wanted to be good at chemistry. It was such a cool subject, but it was sometimes just too complex for even Laura's exercised mind to naturally excel at.

She sat down in her seat, adjacent to her lab partner, Calum. The redhead was paying no attention to the world around him, but instead trying to text under the table, his vision glued to the screen.

Laura sighed, not giving him much more attention. Calum was good-for-nothing except sarcastic comments and the pleasant, but sometimes overwhelming scent of a coffee house (seeing as how he drank three cups of coffee a day at least).

"Mm," Calum hummed when he noticed Laura. He offered her a lopsided grin and flipped his hair, getting the fringe of his bangs to land perfectly over his pale green eyes. "Well, hey there Tinkerbell. You look even more frazzled than last time I saw you."

Laura cringed at his condescending tone and his little nickname for her. Her height was a running joke for the two of them (thought mostly Calum). Their relationship was odd, though they didn't really question it. They were only together for one period and then out of each other's hair for the other seven. Laura found it easier just to go along with his annoying tendencies rather than give him the reaction he was looking for.

"Oh, Calum," she gave him a smile so fake it made her cheeks hurt, "still as sassy as ever."

"Would you really want me any other way?" He gave a questionable wink to the brunette. Questionable because she wasn't really sure what his meanings were behind some of his actions -like that one for example. She just pretended like it didn't happen instead, knowing it was probably nothing.

Laura tapped her fingers restlessly against the table. Her other hand was clasped around a pencil whose eraser she anxiously chewed on. She was eager to get this class over with and then finally retire to her home. Maybe crash on her bed, if she didn't have therapy. Laura mentally groaned at the thought. She didn't want to deal with that right now. Not when she knew she'd had a phone call from one very angry Raini headed her way that would need a therapy session all it's own.

Laura shook her head free of those thoughts. This was school time, time to buckle down and better her education. She turned to a clean page in her notebook and wrote a heading at the top.

'Laura and Calum's Chemistry Notes - 5/21/14'

Calum knitted his brows together at the sight of his lab partner. He noticed her shaky hands, her shallow breathing, the anxious look in her eye. She looked like he was about ready to have an attack right in front of him.

"Jesus, Laura you're freaking me out! Please... Just stop... Whatever it is you're doing..." She let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding in and then shook his head, red hair shagging about, like flames of a fire.

When he looked up, he noticed the broken look on the girl's face. Her eyes were brimming with tears and her bottom lip quivered. Calum's eyes bugged out, his stomach dropped.

"What, was it something I said?" He asked cluelessly.

She laughed, she wasn't sure why, but she did. Her melodious laughter wafted through the air, bringing a soft smile to the redhead's own lips when he heard it. She wiped away whatever tears had strayed, careful not to smudge any makeup, and played with the frail ends of her ponytail.

It was only then that Calum noticed the odd attire she was adorning that day. "What's with the beanie?" He asked, because it was so unlike her. He'd never seen her wear one before. He'd never actually see anyone wear the official headwear of hipsters everywhere at his school except for that reject kid who always ate lunch by himself and was the unfortunate victim of quite a few rumors involving him and drugs.

Laura opened her small mouth, a look of uncertainty flashing through her eyes. Did she okay it off like it was no big deal? Did she say she was feeling a bit chilly this morning and decided to wear something to protect her ears from whatever cold might have been awaiting her outside? She obviously wasn't going to tell him she was paying tribute to a certain boy who had saved her life for reason she was still unaware of. A boy who consumed her every thought. One who she was basically, at this point, obsessed with.

Finally, she settled on a response. "Why's it any of your business, Worthy?"

Calum looked shocked at first, and Laura felt guilty that maybe she'd been to harsh, but whatever sense of shock he'd had was gone in no time at all and he was back to his cheeky self.

"Well, Marano, you look like a poser," he snatched the hat right off her head and she gasped at him. Laura's tiny fists made attempts at grabbing the hat back, but she just couldn't get it back from him.

He leant in close to her face. She stopped trying for the forgotten beanie and her breath hitched at their close proximity. "A cute poser, but still a poser."

Even though Calum annoyed Laura to no end, he was arguably the most attractive boy she knew in real life. He was probably one of the hottest at her school, which was weird when you factored in his redhead hair and pale skin, but he made it work. From what she'd heard from other girls in the locker room after gym, he was quite a panty-dropper.

Laura's cheeks flared red at the thought. That and their closeness being brought back into factor. She'd never...explored her sexuality much, but she still had a working imagination.

Once again, Laura had to shake her head. Those were not thoughts for the classroom. She was squirming under his gaze and he knew it and loved it.

She pulled back, sneering at him. "Geez Louise, your breath smells like a Starbucks." She wrinkled her nose for good measure, but in reality his hot breathed smelled like cinnamon and it did things to her she wasn't willing to admit. That's why she had to stop it from permeating the sensitive skin of her neck before things got too bad.

"Did you just call me Louise?" She asked her weirdly.

She rolled her eyes. So that's how he wanted to play it?

"Yes, I did." She didn't look up from her notebook at him, but pretended to be busy and distracted.

"Who even says that?" He howled with laughter.

"I do!" She turned to him, huffing defensively.

He ceased his laughter, putting his hands up in surrender.

Then he smirked cheekily again. He grabbed the beanie that had lied forgotten on the table and placed it tentatively on Laura's head. His hands stayed there, fingers curling into her soft brown hair. "If I'm Louise, does that mean you're Thelma?"

Her brows scrunched in confusion. "What?"

But Calum didn't have time to explain his reference before there moment was interrupted. Someone from behind them, feeling slightly awkward, cleared their throat.

Calum entangled his fingers from her hair and they both turned their attention to whoever it was interrupting them.

It was Danny, another person in Calum and Laura's chemistry class.

"I... uh," he wondered whether he should comment on what he just witnessed, but decided against it. "Mrs. Davis said I should work with you guys since I don't have a lab partner anymore."

Laura spun in her seat, looking very confused to the back of the classroom. When she saw that Danny's usual table was unoccupied she faced Danny once again, and asked, puzzled. "Where's Isaac?"

Danny raised his eyebrows, giving her a look of disbelief and then sharing one with Calum. Calum only shrugged. Laura was further confused. She just innocently stared back at him and when her expression remain unchanged, Danny finally gave up. "Haha, very funny." Then he walked away to get himself a chair to place at their table.

Laura looked to Calum for an explanation. "What was that about?"

"What, Laura? Isaac got arrested last week," he answered.

"Wait, what?"

He stared back at her, looking stunned. "You didn't know that?" She shook her head. "Yeah, he was the one that brought a gun to school. He's the one that killed Alex."

Laura just sat there, the words ringing in her ears.

"he's the one that brought a gun to school... he's the one that killed Alex... A-Alex... he's the one that killed Alex... brought a gun to school... gun... Alex... killed Alex..."

_It was a whisper in the wind._

_I feeling in her stomach._

_The hitch of her breath._

_The smell of hot metal and an innocent man's blood invading the air around her._

_It was the thump as his lifeless body fell to the ground. _

Laura's chest felt restricted. Her felt like she couldn't breathe. The voices of the past... they were haunting her.

"Your sister was in a car accident... she didn't survive."

"He's lost a lot of blood."

"Please don't shoot me."

"Post traumatic stress disorder."

"Dude, what's wrong with your partner?"

Laura felt someone nudge her. She blinked. The world was back. She could breathe again. Danny and Calum were both looking at her with critical concern.

"What?" She asked, exasperated.

Danny went back to writing his own set of notes. Calum was still carefully observing her though. The attention made her shiver. She didn't like it though, she wanted him to stop it, it reminded her too much of the way her therapist had looked at her.

"Please, stop that!" She demanded.

Calum nodded and looked down at the table instead.

"You were spaced out for like five minutes," Danny supplied, not the least bit helpful. Gosh, he was even more snarky than Calum. When Laura didn't respond he assumed she had zoned out again. "Does she do this a lot?" He asked Calum.

Laura smacked her hand down on the table, the anger rising in her once again. "You seem awfully calm for someone whose lab partner just shot up the school last week!"

Danny looked at her, unsure of what to say. Calum looked down at his hands, surprised by Laura's outburst.

"That has nothing to do with me," Danny replied finally.

"He almost shot me. He intended to, but... he missed.." That was sort of a lie and she knew it, but she didn't feel like dragging that up at this particular moment.

"Again, that has nothing to do with me," Danny repeated, making himself seem heartless.

"How can you not feel guilty about this! You were with him all the time, and then this happened! I feel guilty and I wasn't even associated with him!" Laura's breath is shallow once again. She needs to calm down, but she knows she's not going to.

"Don't you think the police already questioned me?" He asked her, glaring daggers at her. "I wasn't much, but I was about as close a friend he had. He had a shitty home life, a terrible school life, and everyone hated him. It's no wonder he did what he did."

"Are you defending him?" She gritted out between clenched teeth. "He killed people, Danny. He would have killed me too if he had the chance."

Danny sighed heavily and then began writing notes down once more. "I'm not here to argue with you about this, Marano. I'm not defending him, but... his life is ruined, he got what he deserves, I wish everyone would just stop talking about him now that he's not around..."

Silence encompassed the air around them. Laura closed her eyes.

Peace was all she wanted, but it was the one thing she knew she wasn't likely to get.

"Listen," Danny tried to reason, "I know he's not innocent. I know he's a murdered, but he's still a human being. People do some pretty messed up shit when they're scared. No one's perfect. We all have our limits.

"You don't understand what it's like for me. I wasn't one of the people cowering in a classroom with twenty other students around me and a teacher there as well. I was alone. I was scared. I had a gun pointed at me, a face looking at me that told me it wanted me dead." She trembled as she told her story, flashes in her mind, demons of the past, they were all there. "I know what it was like for Alex up until he died. I know how he must have felt. So don't look at me and say there's an explanation for what your "friend" did to him. He took his life away from him.

_And another fell down._

"He fell down. Alex fell down because Isaac tripped him."

The bell rang. Class was over. Laura couldn't have been more grateful for that.

X

Raini didn't call her like Laura had expected. Instead, she took the direction route to Laura's house. Her fists pounded angrily against the Marano's front door in rapid succession as she simultaneously rang the door bell.

"Laura! Get the door!" Her mom yelled from the kitchen to her daughter upstairs. Her mom was busy with work and her dad was making dinner, so even though both of them were closer to the door, they still made Laura get it.

Laura embarked down the stairs and opened the door to see a very angry looking Raini.

Laura tried for damage control, knowing she'd need it. "You look lovely today. Did you do something different to your hair?"

"Laura," the dark haired girl began, ignoring Laura's compliment, "you're my best friend so I tolerate a lot from you, but what you pulled last week was terrible! I went through hell worrying about you and then you didn't even talk to me the entire time we were out of school."

Laura caught her bottom lip between her teeth, chewing on it worriedly. "I know," she said truthfully. "I feel terrible."

"You should!"

Laura looked cautiously into her kitchen. Her parents quickly averted their gazes when she did. They weren't spying on her. Surely not. They were merely assessing the situation.

"I'm kind of on probation. Not really allowed to have friends over at the moment," she informed her friend quietly.

Raini opened her mouth the speak, but she was cut off by Laura's dad.

"Actually, I think Raini deserves an explanation," the older man said earnestly and gave a friendly smile to Raini who graciously smiled back. He patted his daughter on the back. "Why don't you two talk upstairs?"

And so they did. They retreated to Laura's room, where Raini was still furiously and probably about ready to cuss her out now that they weren't within hearing distance of her parents.

Surprisingly though, she didn't. She collapsed onto Laura's bed, squeaking from the added weight, and sighed with a distraught look on her face.

"I thought you had died Laura. I thought I lost you."

Laura's stomach churns with guilt. She can't look Raini in the eyes. "I sent you a text."

"That said "I'm okay". Nothing more. It was totally vague and for all I knew it wasn't even you texting me! I went to your house and your dad had no idea what was even going on!" Her voice got louder as angrier with every word that passed between her lips.

Great, Laura was getting the same lecture she'd gotten four days ago from her parents now from her best friend.

"Well, I'm sorry Raini! That was a rough day for me almost getting shot and everything! I was still reeling from what had happened. I-I didn't have time to think. All my brain could register was that I was scared!"

The shorted girl gasped. "You... almost got shot?" Then her eyes flashed back to anger. "Why didn't you tell me any of this, Laura?! Where was I, your best friend, when all of this was happening? Even if you didn't want to talk about it right away, we had three whole days you could have come to me with this!"

Laura sat on the bed next to Raini, eliciting the same squeak out of it. "I'm sorry, Raini. I really am. I just... I went through a lot that day and afterward I just wanted to forget it. It was all anyone wanted to talk to me about. My parents, my friends, my therapist.." She trailed off, hoping maybe Raini wouldn't catch that last part.

"You have a therapist?" She stares up at the girl in front of her, her eyes glassy with emotion.

Laura sighed. She laid her head in her palms and ran her fingers through her hair, wanting so desperately to pull it out. "Look, we can talk about all of this, I promise, but I just can't talk about all of it right now, all at once. I need some time to deal."

"Okay," Raini replied, fully understanding. But she bit her lip worriedly, one question still burdening her that she needed answers for so desperately she was gonna go crazy if she didn't get them now. "Just one question though?"

Laura laughed. "Sure, one question."

"You said you almost got shot? What do you mean by almost?" Raini scooted away from her friend in a cautious manner, hoping she hadn't overstepped any boundaries and set her friend off.

"I mean that..." Laura struggled to find words that thoroughly expressed what she meant. She could have probably gone on a long orchestrated spiel about it, administrating every little tint detail of it, but in the end she decided to keep it simple. "I mean that someone pointed a gun to me, but someone else took the bullet for me." Laura ran her tongue over her suddenly dry lips. "Did you know Isaac was the gunman?"

"Are you kidding me!" Raini exclaimed, exasperated. She placed her hands on her hips. "I texted you that Tuesday." Raini raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow and shot her friend a questioning look. "Laura Marie Marano, did you even read my texts?"

Laura shrank back a little, feeling embarrassed and guilty. "I might have... only skimmed them..? Seeing as how distracted I was that day."

Raini rolled her eyes and shook her head, curls shaking as she did so. "Okay, back to the topic at hand. Someone took the bullet for you? Who would do that?"

Raini felt a bit guilty, Laura was her best friend, but she wasn't even sure _she'd_ take a bullet for Laura.

Laura shrugged. "I don't know, but whoever it was, I owe my life to him."

"Him?"

"Yes, him." Laura could feel her cheeks flush, though she wasn't entirely sure why.

Raini gawked at her. "Oh my goodness, you have a crush in this guy!"

She only redden further. "Raini, I don't even know his name-"

"Girl, you're blushing!" She laughed and clapped her hands together. "You've got it bad. Mm mm, Laura's got a crush on a mystery cutie."

Laura rolled her eyes, but she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear shyly. "He saved my life. I'm obviously grateful to him." Laura sighed, her stomach flip-flopped in that uncomfortable way. "The worst part is that I don't even know if he's alive," she stated glumly.

This made Raini frown, as she could see this was deeply upsetting her friend. She wrapped a comforting arm around her. "Hey, chica, it's gonna be okay. Don't worry alright. I'm sure he's fine. Otherwise we would have heard news about his death right?"

Laura's heart fluttered with hope.

She quickly decided that if she saw him tomorrow, she would talk to him. She had to thank him at least. She had so many questions for him like why he even saved her in the first place, but one thing was for sure.

If he was still alive, Laura was going to know who he was.

**To be continued...**

**A/N**

**Holy crap! How I would absolutely LOVE for this to be an ongoing series (even though its starting to look like that lol) but unfortunately, that can not be. I didn't anticipate all that I was going to incorporate into this story when I started writing it. I wager it'll probably be a five shot. I wanted to try for a four shot instead, by combining this chapter and the next one together, but this chapter ended up being hella long so I had to split them. I apologize. What was originally gonna be a 2/3 shot has know evolved into a 5 *giggles* oops.**

**And I'm sorry there's no Raura interaction! Hey, but at least you know he's alive, right? I should get points for that at least dammit! I promise though, the next chapter will basically be pure Raura fluffiness. And then the one after that (if all goes well) will be the finale which I'm still in the process of writing by the way. You guys have no idea how much I yearn to write on an actual computer instead of using my phone. It's a pain in the ass to type on. Urgh! **

**Although, who liked that little Laura/Calum moment, huh? Yeah... I'll probably get some backlash from that, but I just really, really wanted to put that in there. I kinda sorta hate it when people write females leads as complete prudes who have no sexuality/ desire to date until their male counterpart comes along. I personally believe it to be unrealistic, but that's just my opinion. I wanted to add that little bit in there to throw some more salt in your wounds because you didn't get any Raura :( aww, you poor deprived shippers.**

**Thanks so much for all the support! You guys are lovely people and I love all of you! Couldn't have done it without you guys :) **

**Okay that's it, please take the time to leave a review as I work very hard and very diligently to provide you guys with quality content in an considerate amount of time. If there's anything you think I need to work on, please inform me of this. Positive feedback is always appreciated! But flames are not. Be respectful when critiquing someone's work. If you don't want to leave a review then whatever. I hope you enjoyed anyway :) (could you at least hit that follow and favorite button? or is that too much to ask too?) Kay guys that's it!**

**Kthanxbai!**

**Morgan :) **


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